Arctic Alaska Coastal Plain, USA

Christmas came early for caribou and fellow denizens of the Arctic when the federal government announced a balanced development plan for a vast tract of land. Blueprints for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska ensure protection for Arctic wetlands and migratory pathways utilized by birds and mammals, caribou among them. Though adaptable, America’s reindeer have suffered declines through the years, in part due to changes to their habitat caused by forestry and energy development. WCS has been actively surveying herds, assessing development impacts, and relaying our findings to government agencies. The government’s newly minted plan will support both conservation interests and responsible energy policies.

Arctic Alaska boasts the greatest spectacle of migratory wildlife in all of North America. Beginning in late May, millions of shorebirds and waterfowl migrate from every continent and every ocean to breed on the immense wetlands of the coastal plain. Examples include tundra swans from North America, buff-breasted sandpipers from South America, bar-tailed godwits from New Zealand, Arctic terns from Antarctica, parasitic jaegers from the Indian Ocean, and dunlin from Asia. Four immense herds of caribou also migrate to the coastal plain to calve their young, escape predators, and find relief from biting insects. Polar bear, muskoxen, Arctic fox, and other quintessential Arctic wildlife reside here, along with Gwich’in and Inupiat communities that maintain subsistence lifestyles, hunting caribou, bowhead whales, and seals.

WCS has a long history of conservation work in Arctic Alaska, dating back to 1897 when the first biological survey of Alaskan wildlife helped pass laws to control overhunting. Surveys supported by WCS in the 1950s led to the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 2001, we reestablished an active, on-the-ground presence in Arctic Alaska and today WCS conservationists are working to advance wildlife conservation in this once-remote region, amid a rapidly changing climate and expanding energy development.

Fast Facts

Spanning 37,000 square miles, the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A) is the largest single piece of public land in the U.S. It is bigger than 11 states and remains mostly undeveloped.

Bar-tailed godwits migrate south from Alaska to New Zealand in one continuous flight of 9,000 miles.

Arctic temperatures have increased at almost twice the global average; one major consequence is that the summer sea ice of the Arctic Ocean may disappear within a decade.

When threatened by a predator, musk oxen form a defensive ring, facing out and surrounding their young.

Challenges

WCS scientists are investigating how climate change is transforming the Arctic. Sea ice loss and permafrost melting on land are precipitating a cascade of changes that will likely seriously affect terrestrial and marine wildlife. Earlier springs are shifting migratory calendars and nesting habits for some birds, whose chicks may hatch before there is sufficient insect prey to feed them. Some Arctic regions are drying significantly, affecting wildlife species that depend on fertile Arctic wetlands for sustenance. Shorelines are eroding dramatically, creating the need for coastal communities to relocate inland. Regarding the Arctic's shrinking sea ice cover, WCS scientists estimate that polar bears traveling from retreating sea ice will soon have to wander five times as far to reach maternity dens in Alaska. Expanding oil concessions will displace wildlife from important habitat, and the infrastructure of such development makes it easier for predators like Arctic fox, glaucous gulls, and ravens, to reach the nests of migratory birds. Only small populations of musk oxen remain scattered on the landscape. Some of these herds are mysteriously declining.

WCS Responds

WCS is the only conservation group with a long-term, on-the-ground presence in Arctic Alaska. WCS leads collaborative efforts to identify key regions for wildlife in the NPR-A and to gain protections for these areas in advance of development. We are studying how energy development affects the breeding of
migratory birds and how best to mitigate any negative effects of new development on wildlife.

WCS has worked to monitor climate change in the Arctic, assessing how sea ice is fading from this region and how that endangers polar bears and other wildlife. In addition, our researchers study musk oxen to understand why some populations are in decline.

WCS Projects

The Arctic coastal plain of Alaska serves as the spring nesting ground for millions of shorebirds, waterfowl, loons, and other types of birds. Climate change is interfering with their migration, nesting, and feeding patterns. WCS-North America conservationists study how the birds cope with the changing landscape, and identify key areas for conservation.

From the Newsroom

Every year, millions of birds migrate to the coastal wetlands of Arctic Alaska to breed. Joe Liebezeit, WCS’s Arctic birds project leader, explains how rising temperatures are dramatically transforming this landscape and the lives of its seasonal residents.

Christmas came early for caribou and other denizens of the Arctic when the federal government announced a balanced plan for a huge tract of land in Alaska. Blueprints for the NPR-A ensure protection for wetlands and migratory pathways utilized by birds and mammals, America's reindeer among them.

As their sea ice habitat diminishes in the Arctic, Pacific walruses increasingly use coastal lands to haul out, and feed in the surrounding shallow waters. Because this phenomenon poses new threats to walrus populations, conservationists are adopting new strategies to monitor and protect them.

Arctic Alaska, famous for playing host to tens of thousands of migratory birds that come from around the world to breed and nest each summer, has also become a playground for predator species like Arctic foxes, ravens, gulls, and owls. WCS conservation biologist Joe Liebezeit researches and photographs the effects of a changing landscape on area wildlife.

A
four-year WCS study finds the Teshekpuk Lake region within the National
Petroleum Reserve to hold the highest breeding bird density in Arctic
Alaska—one solid reason for its permanent protection from energy development.

At a recent symposium held at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s National
Conservation Training Center facility in Shepherdstown, West Virginia,
Dr. George Schaller called for increased protection of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska.

Despite its low profile, the musk ox has persisted through the Pleistocene exinctions, outlasting the woolly mammoth and other prehistoric mammals. WCS Senior Scientist Joel Berger studies America’s least known large mammal and its unusual survival tactics.

WCS is extremely encouraged by the Department of Interior’s decision to protect 170,000 acres south and northeast of Teshekpuk Lake in the National Petroleum Reserve from leasing. The area provides critical habitat for breeding birds and caribou populations.

This week, WCS scientists are trekking across the vast and remote Alaskan Arctic and deep into the National Petroleum Reserve to explore how best to conserve Arctic wildlife
in the midst of expanding energy development. WCS conservationist Steve Zack is chronicling the trip for the New York Times' Scientists at Work blog.

A WCS-led study says some nesting bird species are declining near oil development in the Arctic. Infrastructure from oil drilling, coupled with edible garbage, creates “subsidized housing” for as opportunistic predators like foxes and gulls.

WCS scientists working in northern Alaska spot a shorebird originally tagged 8,000 miles away, in Victoria, Australia. The bar-tailed godwit flew the length of the Pacific in an epic journey that underscores the importance of this northern breeding ground.